WARNING: This article contains sensitive topics. Those in need of support can contact the Mental Health Crisis Line: 613-722-6914 (within Ottawa) and 1-866-996-0991 (outside Ottawa), the Ottawa Distress Centre Crisis Line: 613-238-3311, or the Youth Services Bureau 24/7 Crisis Line: 613-260-2360 or 1-877-377-7775 (toll).
Russian President Vladimir Putin has initiated a full-scale war against Ukraine, a country which 1.4 million Canadians consider their ancestral homeland. As Russia’s aggression proceeds past the one-month mark, Carleton University and the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) have taken minimal efforts to support Ukrainian students.
Daily news exacerbates an already stressful end of semester for Ukrainian students. Compared to other universities across Canada, the efforts and messaging to adequately address Ukrainian students’ concerns by Carleton and CUSA are lacking and insensitive.
Four days after 200,000 Russian soldiers stepped into Ukraine and commenced Europe’s largest military offensive since the Second World War, Carleton’s social media expressed sympathy for Ukrainian students affected by the “situation.” This was at a time when Russia intended to upend Ukrainian sovereignty and “denazify” a country over which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky—a trailblazing Ukrainian Jew—presides. Russian missiles struck and killed civilians across Ukraine and targeted nuclear power plants and maternity wards.
To go further and label this a “crisis,” much like how other writers expunged Russian culpability by labelling it a “civil war,” weakens the urgency to react and undermines the anxiety and pain being endured by Ukrainian students like myself. This is a full-scale interstate war, the likes of which Europe and the world have not seen since Russia invaded Georgia in 2008. Words matter, and Carleton should have called it for what it is: a Russian reinvasion of sovereign Ukrainian territory.
CUSA, which released a “Call to Action” one month after Russia’s reinvasion, reacted deplorably. Their statement ranted about the seemingly hypocritical call for support for European students and the “negligible” support for non-Europeans. It stops short of demanding further support for Ukrainians and other students fearful of whether their loved ones are next to becoming a casualty statistic at the hands of the Russian invaders.
CUSA’s statement listed states including Afghanistan, Myanmar, Syria and Venezuela, and pondered, “Where was Carleton’s support for students from these states?” It also asks why Carleton is supporting those from a “European country, with a majority white population” when other international student communities were provided divergently different—or no—assistance.
While it is important to recognize the need for Carleton’s support of all international students, a call to action focused on other nations at a time when Ukrainian students need support undermines the severity of the war at hand.
I consider it offensive for CUSA to divert attention from Ukraine when such support has been lacklustre already. To witness a student body carelessly undermine its solidarity with Ukrainians leaves me speechless. At a time our homeland is being destroyed, CUSA asks ‘What about others?’ instead of ‘What can we do to help Ukrainians?’ We Ukrainians perceived such a message as divisive and inappropriate.
Perhaps some numbers will provide Carleton and CUSA some much-needed perspective. As you read this, more and more people are being pulled out of rubble in besieged Mariupol, which Russian aerial, land and naval forces continue to bombard. The city’s mayor reported 10,000 deaths, 300 of whom were from a theatre donning a sign reading “children.” On that note, 158 children have been killed, with five more killed in a recent rocket attack in Kramatorsk.
Ukraine is discovering hundreds of civilian bodies from the outskirts of Kyiv. Bucha and Irpin witnessed a massacre of 410 civilians as Russian troops retreated. Some bodies show their innocence—blindfolded with hands tied behind their backs. Sickening accounts of torture and rape continue to emerge. This is the story across Russian-occupied Ukraine.
During this time, Canadians joined with local communities to demand stringent action be taken against Putin’s crusade and to raise humanitarian donations for Ukrainian refugees and internally displaced peoples fleeing war. Much like the welcoming of Afghan and Syrian refugees, many Canadian families are opening their doors to Ukrainians.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian students are met with deafening silence from Carleton and CUSA regarding concrete action. Carleton hosts a webpage directing to health services and external charities, which I applaud. Unless expanded, however, Ukrainian students’ urgent usage could stretch existing university resources.
In stark contrast, the University of Alberta, University of British Columbia, University of Manitoba and University of Toronto have waived tuition, expanded existing mental health services, increased bursaries for international students affected by the war and donated to humanitarian relief. If Carleton and CUSA truly concerned themselves with our mental health during wartime, perhaps they ought to follow other universities’ examples.
CUSA’s shameful statement also exposes its hypocrisy in representativeness. If they hoped to convey a message of empathy, why appropriate one community’s anguish as your prop to critique administration? Contrary to their assumptions, they will find many students—especially Ukrainians—believe those from the aforementioned countries deserve equal attention and support.
The fact remains that Ukraine is facing a struggle for survival against the greatest of odds: the largest country on earth, armed with the largest nuclear stockpile and the largest army in continental Europe.
It is not unfounded for Canada to react strongly. Boasting a large Ukrainian diaspora is nothing to scoff at. We Ukrainians have a long history of contributing to the multicultural and pluralist character of Canada. Canada and Ukraine possess an indelible bond, explaining why Ukraine affairs weigh heavily in Canada’s political discourse.
In these circumstances, we require perspective. The divergent response to conflicts in Afghanistan and Myanmar does not mean we should disparage helping Ukrainians. Instead, we ought to view helping Ukrainians as a model of how universities should support international and diaspora students whose homelands face war. Ukraine’s European identity does not matter. The violations of international law and blatant aggression by a major world power deserve everyone’s condemnation and require action.
Glory to Ukraine. Slava Ukrayini.
An earlier version of this article used the word “intrastate” instead of “interstate.” The Charlatan regrets the error.
Featured image by Arno Ryser.
